Stitchless and hidden stitch expansible billfold



June 3, 1952 o. s. ELLIFF 2,598,982

STITCHLESS AND HIDDEN STITCH EXPANSIBLE BILLFOLD Filed May 26, 1950 2SHEETS-SHEET 1 O. S. ELLIFF 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 FIG. 9.

FIG. IO.

FIG.

INVENTOR: ORLA S. ELLIFF a )7 dalla, A/TfT/'ORNEYS- June 3, 1952sTITcHLEss AND HIDDEN STITCH ExPANsIBLE BILLFDLD Filed May 2e, 195oPatented June 3, 1952 STITCHBESS" HND HIDDEN? Sg'llIEfJI-Ie y EXPANSTBLEBHSEFGLD Orla S. Ellil, Joplin, Moa assignor, to'llxefMeekcr.. CompanyInc.n Joplin, al oorporation. of

Missouri Claims. .1

This invention relates generador to. b,il-liolds` or' pocket. walletsand more; particularly'- to such;V ai device that is: made from aJminimum number off folded. blanks. on died-.routc pieces. and. whichwil-t therebyv forni a structure that is neati andi air-- tractive in;appearance, simple. in. construetiom having. a; minimumK amount.- ofbulk., caribe. easilyr manipula-tem and which will:v be otherwise satisfactory andeiiicient' for use wherever deemed ap-l plicable..

One of the principal objects of. my invention is. to'- devise suchv aVbillfold that will have meansr whereby the billfold may be expanded orex.- tended. to accommodate a maximum thickness; of.' currency or othermaterial carried therein.

Another object of invention is to provide a device of the kind.described. in which. the bil-l1-A fold will haver a main pocket portionvextending for substantially' the: full lengthI and depth. of. the

bllfold, and having opposedv end'. pockets.. with extensibleconnectionsA between said main; pocket and said end` pockets: wherebysaid pocket. may be expanded: and. collapsed readily as required.

A further object oi myv invention is to provide a billfold' oi the kinddescribed, of: a simplified. construction, wherein. the currencyretaining main pocket of the'bi-llfold willi permit the hand or ngersof: the user to be: inserted thereinto when placing currency or' othermaterial into the pocket, or removing the same therefrom.`

Many other objects and advantages of the. construction herein shown anddescribed will be obvious to those skilled in the art to which thisinvention appertains;I as will be apparent from the disclosuresvhereinafter given.

To end my invention consists in thev novelconstruction, arrangexnentrcombination and form of parts herein shown and described, and as will bemore clearly pointed out in. the following specication.

In the drawings, wherein like. reference. characters indicate like orcorresponding parts throughout the. views Fig. 1 is a side elevationalview of a billfold embodying my invention,

Fig. 2 is a top View of the billiold,

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the blank from which the principal portions ofthe billfold are formed,

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary plan view showing the auxiliary panel secured inplace,

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary plan View, showing the lowermost portion of theblank, with the auxiliary panel therein, and folded upward-ly to formone of the end pockets of the billfold,

Fig. 6 is a. view similar to that shown in Fig. 5, and showing an endtab about to be adhered to said end pocket' I Fig. 'I is a sideelevational view similar to that 2 shown.,n, Fig.. 1. but; with; certainportions broken Eig.. 8j. is. a'. oross.-sectionai detail, taken sub1-s.tit-raientsY along the line 8-8 of; Eis.` 4..

is. a.` cross-sectional detailr takzenl sub.- stantially alonathe.l line9.-9 ofv Fig. 5.,

lll is. across-sectional. detail, taken sub` stantiallyralongl the line-I lL-.Ml of. Fig. 6,

Eig; ll. is; av cross-sectional detail, taken substantialhry along theline I. I,.-l l` of. Fig. '1, showing the; end` iiaps about to besecured inv final posi.- tion,

Fig.. l2. is a. cross-sectional detail, taken substantially along theline Ilz-.l2 of. lili-g. 1, and

Fig.. i3 is. a fragmentary perspective. detail, showing thel main pocketin its expanded position Referring more particularly to the drawings,vwherein IA have. illustrated. a. preferred embodiment of my invention,there is shown a billfold, preferablymade. of leather or some othersuitably flexible. material that. will give suicient wear and,durabilityv for the. purpose.

In this device there is a main. or currency pocket A, which extends theentire length. and depth oi theL billfold and is. open along the entiretop edge of same, and end pockets Bv that are opposed to one.- anotherso that, each end pocket opens towardv the` transverse medial fold lineof the billfold,v whereby when. the billfold is olded along. said line..the end pockets will of-.ferle be superimposed on. one another.

A. sheet of material of the kind aforementioned is out, stampedz orotherwise blanked to. form an approximately rectangular bod-y panelWhose length and depth is substantially equal to that of. the mainpocket A.. and is provided at a pair of spaced-apart intervals. alongitsv bottom with depending, portions 2 and 3 projecting downwardly fromthe bottom. edge of said main panel, the depending. depth of. each suchdepending portion 2 and 3 being approximately equal to one another and,to the depth of the panel.

A narrow band. or upper marginal nishing ilap 4 extends from end to endof said main panel alongv the topedge of the latter, so that said flapmay be folded inwardly and then adhesively secured against the innerface of the inside surface of said panel. A ap 5., relatively short inlength, is provided to extend. from the lower edge of said panel toapproximately bridge the space between the opposed depending portions,so that said iiap may be folded upwardly and inwardly and adhesively'secured to the inner face of the panel at the region oi the transversemedial fold At each end, of. the panel l there is provided. a tab 6.that protects laterally beyond the. ad. jacent end of said panel, fromtop to bottom of the latter, each said tab being provided at its sideedge with offset locking tongues 1 for a purpose to be more clearlyhereinafter described.

The ends of the portions 2 are similarly provided with tabs 8 havinglocking tongues 9 at their top and bottom ends, so that said tabs 6 and8,

Y having tongues 1 and 9, are approximately of the same size and shapeso as to register with each other when superimposed.

Each such portion 3 is provided with a slit Il extending between the topand bottom of such portion and of a length approximately equal to thedistance between the end tongues of the tabs 6 and 8. In this manner,the pairs of registering tabs 6 and 8 will form gussets, as will now bedescribed.

In forming the 'main pocket and the end pockets, the lowermost extensionportions 3 are folded upwardly and inwardly along a fold line I that issubstantially medial of the combined inserted through the adjacent slitl I.

In this manner, the portions 3 will form the outer side of the endpockets B, and each pair of tabs 6 and 8 will form a bellows foldinterconnecting an end of the main pocket with an end of a cooperatingend pocket, so that the main pocket will be expansible to accommodatevarying thicknesses of material-*that may be placed within the latter.

An auxiliary panel l2, preferably shorter than the main panel and ofapproximately the Width of the openings of the end pockets B, isarranged to bridge the space between the latter and has its opposed endsinserted into the opposed openings, each such end of the auxiliary panelhaving a short length of cloth or other textile I3 carried thereby sothat the outer end of this piece of textile may be stitched to anadjacent end pocket portion. Thus, it is seen that this auxiliary panel,extending into the end pockets, forms a small portion of the inside Wallof the main pocket A, and forms the inside walls of the end pockets, andthat the remaining inside wall portions of the main pocket is formed bythe portions 3 and the tabs 6. v

The bellows folds between the ends of the main pocket and the endpockets permit expanding and collapsing of the billfold and provideeasier access to the interior of the main pocket as needed. This isquite a convenience,l

when inserting currency or other material into or removing the same fromsaid main pocket, as it is possible to do so by extending the fingers ori substantially the entire hand into such pocket.V

The billfold can collapse so that the bellows connection isinconspicuous and does not add to the bulkiness or thickness of thebillfold at its ends, thus making this billfold neat and attractive inappearance as well as highly useful and tially the full length and depthof the billfold,

and with a pair of end pockets with their openings opposed to oneanother and spaced apartL so thatthe billfold may be folded with oneendV pocket superimposed, on the other, said billfold including a sheetof flexible material having a panel portion of substantiallyV thel sizeof said main pocket and with depending portions folded upwardly toapproximately the top margin of the main pocket of the billfold andthence folded inwardly and downwardly to approximately the bottom ofsaid main pocket, each end of said panel portion formed with an inwardlydirected tab secured to said inwardly and downwardly folded portion ofthe adjacent end pocket along a line spaced inwardly of the end edge ofthe latter to form an extensible connection inwardly of each end of themain pocket.

2. A billfold having a main pocket opening substantially entirely alongits upper edge and extending for substantially the full depth of thebillfold, and also having a pair of opposed end pockets that open towardone another, said billfold including a sheet of flexible material with apanel portion defining the size of said main pocket and provided with atab at each end and also having extensions projecting from the bottom ofsaid main pocket portion and of approximately twice the depth of saidmain pocket, said extensions being folded along spaced apart lines todefine the outer walls of the end pockets and portions of the inner wallof the main pocket each of the inner wall portions of the main pockethaving a slit therein directed generally transversely of the length ofthe main pocket and inwardly of the ends, said tabs folded inwardly andconnected into the slits in the inner wall portions of the main pocketto form a longitudinal extension of the same and to permit lateralexpansion of said main pocket thereat.

3. A billfold having a main pocket opening along its entire upper edgeand also having a pair of end pockets spaced apart and opening towardone another, said billfold including a exible sheet having a main panelof substantially the size of the main pocket, end tabs extendinglaterally from said main panel, and with spaced apart bottom extensionsextending from the bottom edges of said panel, each such extension beingformed by inner and outer panels which together are approximately twicethe depth of said main panel and the outer panels being folded upwardlyalong the bottom edge of the main panel and the inner panels beingfolded downwardly and inwardly along a line that divides the saidextensions substantially equally between said inner and outer panels,the free ends of said tabs connected into slits provided in the innerpanels and located inwardly of the ends of the latter, and a secondpanel bridging between said end pockets and extending into the latterand forming with said inner panels the inner wall of said main pocket.

ORLA S. ELLIFF.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Elliff July 4, 1950

